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T O P I C R E V I E W

stsmithva

Offered here are two items signed by the crew of Apollo 11. Both come with Steve Zarelli Letters of Authenticity.

The first is a page with Armstrong's historic words (complete with the "a") at the top, the mission and the date that humans landed on another world, and then the names and titles of the crewmen. Each of the crewmen signed his name in the appropriate place.

This 8x10 page was printed by someone using the technology of the day (probably the 1970s). It is on thick paper, like cardstock, that has a slightly glossy feel to it and is a darker tan on the back. There is a one-inch lighter spot to the right of Armstrong's signature where the gloss has rubbed away. Both my scanner and Steve Zarelli's exaggerated the small differences in color on the real thing – it is not noticeably darker on the right side.

Every once in a while an item with Armstrong's signature and the "One small step..." quote appears for sale. Many look as if the wording was typed on later. That is clearly not the case with this item.

Imagine this page framed with your favorite photo from Apollo 11 – perhaps a NASA lithograph of the crew.

Please e-mail me if you would are interested in purchasing it and would like to see a larger scan.

I'm pricing this well below the usual price of an uninscribed crew-signed photo, even though I think this is just as fascinating to look at and I know it is far more rare. (It's reasonable to think that it's completely unique.) It is $3200. You can pay in two monthly installments if you like.

I will include shipping via Priority Mail with insurance.

stsmithva

The Secretary of State during Richard Nixon's first term was William Rogers, and Rogers's personal secretary was Maggie Runkle. She was part of the group that accompanied Nixon on his historic trip to China. If you open this PDF file from the Nixon Presidential Library and search for "Runkle", you'll see her name on the Air Force One manifest for a February 1971 trip to Florida.

She and her husband attended the launch of Apollo 11 as guests of Vice President Spiro Agnew, and the crew later signed an 8x10 photo of the event. It's possible that one of the Runkles took the photo, and had it printed on glossy photo paper with the "A KODAK PAPER" watermark on the back that many of us are familiar with.

Michael Collins inscribed it "All the Best to the Runkels from Apollo 11." Yes, he switched two letters in the name, and Mr. or Mrs. Runkle used a pen that didn't exactly match to make the e taller to make it look like an l.

I'll first show a close-up of the astronauts' writing:

And now here's the whole thing (the Saturn V and its plume of flame is visible just to the left of the cloud on the right):

The writing is not as dark as it could be. It really does stand out better in real life than it does in these images, and that is a nice big Armstrong autograph. Also, the photo itself is in fine, clean condition. But it will be appropriately priced because of the light writing.

It comes with a Steve Zarelli LOA, with the image contrast enhanced to show the writing better:

And finally, it comes with a large certificate that Mrs. Runkle's husband received, stating that he was present at the launch. (Agnew's signature is printed.)

At $1900, this might be the least expensive Apollo 11 crew-signed photo (with excellent provenance and expert authentication) that you are likely to see.

I will include shipping via Priority Mail with insurance.

mode1charlie

Email sent. Thanks.

rbee

A couple of nicely priced items.

I have noticed recently that undedicated fully signed crew lithos are not reaching $6000 at auction which really does not make it worth getting Buzz to sign them with his 'completion' fee.

capoetc

quote:Originally posted by rbee:...which really does not make it worth getting Buzz to sign them with his 'completion' fee.

Unless, of course, one does not already own an Apollo XI crew-signed item. Often, collectors get things signed for reasons other than investment value.

rbee

Indeed, but my point was it's now potentially cheaper to buy a complete set rather than have Buzz sign it.

stsmithva

Just thought I call attention to the Apollo 11 crew-signed launch photo above. The price is now $1800, which even taking the lightness of the signatures is quite a bargain for a crew-signed photo (probably a unique print) with a Zarelli LOA.